Larry Campbell Brain Teasers, Various Answers

Summary, Solvers, & Solutions: Sep/Oct BTs

Sep/Oct ’18 Brain Teasers – SUMMARY

REMINDER: Answers in red.  Solvers (submitted/correct) in blue. (Forgive any omissions.) Comments in green. For further elaboration, feel free to ask! 

  1. I What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? They were all invented by women. Other answers (like ‘all two words’) taken also. Frank Green, Rita Barger. 
  2. On which day of the year are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? Father’s Day.  ‘Mother’s Day’ taken also. [Probably more calls on M.D., but more collect calls on F.D.)  Yes, I know this is CLEARLY out of date! 🙂 Rita Barger, Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon
  3. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter “A”? One thousAnd.  Rita Barger, Jennifer Steele, Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset.  VERY IMPRESSED with Marcia M’s noticing that I didn’t specify ‘whole number’, so one-hAlf and one quArter (and lots of others) could work!
  4. A mystery number between 0 and 1 ends at the thousandths place, is 0.64 when rounded to the hundredths place, and has digits that add up to 13.  What is the mystery number?  (Thanks to subscriber Joshua Walters, FSIL, for this one.) 0.643   Frank Green, Rita Barger, Jennifer Steele, Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.
  5. I am a three-digit number.  My tens digit is five more than my ones digit.  My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit.  What number am I? 194.  Rita Barger, Jennifer Steele, Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.
  6. There is a basket containing 5 apples.  How do you divide the apples among 5 children, so that each child receives one apple while 1 apple remains in the basket.  Give the last apple to the 5th child still in the basket.  I know, I know – feels like a ‘trick question’.  Had a couple folks note that it doesn’t say exactly five apples, so apparently there were 6 (or more) apples in the basket.  I liked this – and one other I think.  Rita Barger, Jennifer Steele, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.
  7. What mathematical symbol can be placed between 5 & 9 which results in a number greater than 5, but less than 9?  A decimal point.  So, 5.9  Rita Barger, Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset.
  8. A half is a third of it.  What is it? 3/2 (or 1.5).  Rita Barger, Alexis Avis, Kathy Gordon.
  9. A man enters his cabin in Texas.  When he exits his cabin, he’s in England.  How did that happen? It’s the cabin of a plane (or boat?)  Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.
  10. As you near the finish line of a 5-kilometer fun run, you overtake the person who was in second place.  What place are you right after doing that?  Second.  Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.
  11. Paul was twenty years old in 1980, but only fifteen years old in 1985.  How was that possible?  (Hint? Be Careful.) He was born in 1980 B.C.  (perhaps my hint was too obvious.) Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.
  12. Sally is 54 years old and her mother is 80.  How many years ago was Sally’s mother three times Sally’s age? Forty-one years ago, when Sally was 13 and her mother was 39. Rita Barger, Jennifer Steele, Alexis Avis, Marcia Morriset.
  13. What number do you get when you multiply all of the numbers on a telephone’s number pad?  0.  Rita Barger, Jennifer Steele, Alexis Avis, Amy Ragsdale, Kathy Gordon.
  14. What is the value of 1/2 of 2/3 of 3/4 of 4/5 of 5/6 of 6/7 of 7/8 of 8/9 of 9/10 of 1000?  (There is a shortcut hiding here.)  100.  Rita Barger, Amy Ragsdale, Kathy Gordon.  (The shortcut:  If you write it out completely, you notice everything ‘cancelling’ except the first numerator and the last denominator, leaving 1/10 of 1000.)
  15.  When can CAT + DOG = 592?  Lots of clever solutions here (that I took of course).  But if you look at a phone pad, and use the numbers on those keys, you have 228 +364 = 592.  Rita Barger, Alexis Avis, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.

FUN BONUS:  As mentioned, copies of Spitballs From the Back Row can be purchased through October for $12.75 (softcover) or $21.25 (hardcover).  Each price represents a 15% discount from the retail price.  What IS the retail price of each version, then?  Soft cover $15 (14.99) and hardback $25 (24.99). (Such a deal!)  Rita Barger, Amy Ragsdale, Marcia Morriset, Kathy Gordon.